Informal Values and Formal Policies - A study of Japanese Technology Policy and Significance for India

The main objective of this paper is to analyse some aspects of Japanese policy in the post World War-II period and understand how the various informal institutions (shared mental models) have influenced key dimensions of technology strategy with regard to the nature and trajectory of activities it sought to promote. Previous studies have mainly focused on industrial policy on the basis of the White Papers published by the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI). Our study, in contrast, focuses exclusively on technology policies by examining the White Papers on Science and Technology (Kagakugijutsu Hakusho) published by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT). We then endeavour to understand the significance of our findings for policy making in India. However, the limited scope of this undertaking makes our results indicative in nature.Informal values, institutions, culture, norm, technology, MITI

Evidentiary vacuum, epistemic communities and rare disease policymaking in India:an evolutionary policy perspective

There are divergent views among scholars and policymakers about the nature of permissible evidence for policymaking. It is often not feasible to construct a policy system exclusively based on objective research findings, particularly for rare diseases where conventionally accepted evidence remains a rarity. Evolutionary theories in such cases offer an overarching framework to represent the various heterodox understandings of what constitutes evidence and how evidence-based policies can be formulated under knowledge uncertainty. We conduct an empirical investigation of India’s rare disease policymaking endeavour in evolutionary perspective. The existing rare diseases policy architecture in India, in our view, reflects a ‘rationalistic’ framework. It intends to act only on ‘hard evidence’ to make, what may be called, an optimum decision, rather than initiating a ‘good enough’ policy decision based on existing (limited, soft) evidence and improving it incrementally through learning and trial-and-error. Our findings suggest that in the presence of ‘evidentiary vacuum’ and knowledge uncertainty, broadening the contours of epistemic communities, to include ‘lived experiences’ of the ‘lay’-stakeholders, can be effective in formulating an adaptive policy framework, which would ‘learn’ to better fit with the dynamic environment through inclusive deliberations, and trial-and-error.</p

‘Zero-error’ versus ‘good-enough’: towards a ‘frugality’ narrative for defence procurement policy

The procurement decision-making process for complex military product systems (CoPS) has significant implications for military end-users, suppliers, and exchequers. This study examines the usefulness of adopting a fast and frugal decision-making approach for the acquisition of military CoPS. Defence procurement environment is complex. On the one hand, there are uncertainties and severe resource constraints due to regularly changing threat perceptions, limited flow of information about new technologies, and the growing demand to reduce defence related expenses. On the other hand, several stakeholders remain pre-occupied with the demand for ‘zero-error’ technologies. In such a setting, recurrent cost overruns and delays in supply are common in defence procurement programmes, across countries. Taking the illustrative examples of the missile system, fighter jet, and radar system acquisitions in India, we elucidate on ‘optimising’ versus ‘satisficing’ dynamics in the procurement decisions. The paper argues that a fast and frugal decision-making process by relying on judgement, experiential knowledge, and intuitive learning might make procurement processes, adaptively, more efficient. Such an approach would enable a ‘good enough’ technology to be inducted, and improved upon, through regular feedback from the actual environment. The study has implications for policy scholarships on innovation policy instruments under uncertainty

2009,12: Tracing the motivation to innovate : a study of "grassroot" innovators in India

Extrinsic motivations like intellectual property protections and fiscal incentives continue to occupy the centre stage in debates on innovation policies. Joseph Schumpeter had, however, argued that the motive to accumulate private property can only explain part of innovative activities. In his view, "the joy of creating, of getting things done" associated with the behavioural traits that "seek out difficultiesand takes delight in ventures" stand out as the most independent factor of behaviour in explaining the process of economic development, especially in early capitalist societies. Taking the case of 'grassroot' innovators in India, we re-examine the motivations behind innovative behaviour. We draw upon the literature on effectance motivation theory to construct operational indicators of extrinsic and intrinsic motivations. Interestingly, we find that pure extrinsic forms of motivation drive only a fraction of individual innovative behaviour. Also, importance of intrinsic motivation in guiding innovative behaviour is found to high when uncertainty is high. We accordingly draw a few policy implications. -- Motivation ; Grassroot Innovation ; Indi

2008,04: Past experience, cognitive frames, and entrepreneurship : some econometric evidence from the Indian pharmaceutical industry

The theoretical literature identifies three important entrepreneurial dimensions, namely discovering new opportunities, responsiveness to uncertainty, and coordination of a firm. In the empirical literature, past experience has been identified as having an important influence on organizational behavior. This literature, however, focuses predominantly on the impact of experience on new opportunities using a resource-based view and human capital perspective. In contrast, we draw upon the cognitive science literature to argue that past experience shapes an entrepreneur's cognitive frame, and, hence, influences entrepreneurship in a more holistic manner. We provide econometric evidence of the impact of past experience on all three entrepreneurial dimensions from the small scale Indian pharmaceutical enterprises. -- Entrepreneurship ; Past experience ; Cognition ; Information and knowledge, Indian pharmaceutical industr

Frugal innovation for ecological transformation - a way forward?

Frugal innovation is increasingly promoted as a solution to meet the needs of a growing human population while remaining within planetary boundaries. This article presents a nuanced understanding of what frugal innovation is and is not; highlighting that a wider understanding of frugality has the potential to promote the resilience, dignity and economic prosperity of people and communities that are not traditionally seen as part of innovation ecosystems. It highlights the necessity of overhauling the existing social and economic spaces of innovation, production, and consumption to envisage a just, inclusive way forward towards an effective ecological transformation